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Paul surprised me with tickets to the shins. Feel free to sing along while you play the video … The Shins relocated to Portland a while back. At the moment they are my favorite band in the world. The concert was at the Crystal Ballroom. It was a complete surprise. They had been sold out for a month. I was tired and cranky waiting for the shins to start. It became very clear to me why I don’t see bands on week nights. There were some people 10 years younger than we were talking about how they were usually in bed by now. So I didn’t feel quite so bad. The lead singer, James Mercer was a bit squirly and didn’t really seem to want to be there. Its probably why I like him and his music. He appears very creative, strange and anti-social.

Frozen into coats,
White girls of the North,
Fire past one, fire the one
They are the fabled lambs,
A Sunday ham,
The ancient snow.

And they can float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I
Could ever try,
Could ever try.

So we just skirt the hallway signs,
A phantom and a fly,
Follow the lines and wonder why
There’s no connection.

And weakened falling eyes,
In cheap shots from the tribe,

And we’re often in Marcus’ porch again,
For another afternoon of the goat-head tunes,
And pilfered booze.

We wander through her mama’s house,
The milk from the window lights,
Family portrait circa ninety-five,
This is that foreign land,
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime,

So, when they tap our mundane heads,
To zombie-walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time,
And we’ll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too fall along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.

Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo

So, when they tap our Mundane heads,
To zombie-walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time,
And we’ll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too fall along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.

Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo (repeat to fade)

Prior to the Shins we went out to dinner. Paul’s directorship of the Portland Shambhala center finally has an upside to it. Many weeks ago, he got an e-mail that a sangha member had written an book and would be in town. A general offer of hospitality was offered; rides, billeting, meals, etc. In the last few weeks, in part due to an appearance on the daily show, Ishmael Beah has taken the world by storm.

We took him out to a very spicy Indian dinner. He is really such a nice guy. He said something about color and language I thought was very interesting. In his native language, the word for blue is the same word as sky. It can be used in either way. But when you are describing something as blue you still picture the essential nature of the sky.

Ishmael also talked about being on the Daily Show. Said Jon Steward was really funny. (good thing) What impressed me about the whole thing was how touched Jon Steward was.  I listened to the Fresh Air Interview, and while Teri Gross got some interersting information out of him, I thought Jon Stewart better captured what it was like to interact with Ishmael.